Draft History

2009 Draft

To date the ‘09 draft was not especially strong for the Cardinals.  Top pick Chris “Beanie” Wells eventually worked his way into the starting lineup at running back and has had a solid rookie season scoring four touchdowns and posting three 70+ yard rushing games.  After Wells, though, there is not a lot to be excited about and most of what is there is considered developmental talent.

Seventh round selection LaRod Stephens-Howling has made an impact as a kick returner with a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown.  He has a touchdown reception to his name as well.  He is not seen as much more than a change-of-pace back though.

Sixth round selection Will Davis has a couple of sacks to his name while defensive backs Gregory Toler (4th) and Rashad Johnson (3rd) are both buried on the depth chart behind established veterans.

Fifth round pick Herman Johnson is seen as a developmental player at tackle and is still probably a year or two away from seeing regular playing time.

The Cardinals were hoping Cody Brown, taken in the second round, would be able to supplant aging pass rushers Bert Berry and/or Chike Okeafor as an edge rusher, but, he has spent the season rehabbing a wrist injury and has yet to play.

Grade: C+.  They got a solid starter out of this class thus far and he has yet to establish himself as a future star.

2008 Draft

Arizona did pretty well for themselves in the ‘08 draft.  First round selection Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie established himself as a play-maker with an interception return for a touchdown and 19 passes defensed.  He worked himself into the starting lineup and started the last 11 games of the season for the Cardinals.  Rodgers-Cromartie appears to have the making of being a shutdown corner within the next couple of seasons.

After a pretty forgetful rookie year second round pick Calais Campbell has come on during his second season with 5 sacks and a pair of blocked kicks through the team’s first 12 games as the Cards’ starting left end.

Fifth round selection Tim Hightower emerged as a steal of the draft for Arizona.  He became Arizona’s primary option in the goal line offense ending his rookie campaign with 10 touchdowns and has six thus far in his second season.

The team likes third round pick Early Doucet and he has shown flashes of what he can do in limited action.  He has simply been caught up in a numbers game in Arizona behind established veterans like Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Steve Breaston.

Grade: B+. They got a future star and Rodgers-Cromartie and two impact players in Hightower and Campbell.

2007 Draft

Top pick Levi Brown has established himself as the starting right tackle, however, the Cards were hoping the fifth pick in the draft would be their left tackle by now.

Second round selection Alan Branch has been a bust at defensive tackle thus far.  He has just 26 tackles and 2 sacks over the first 27 games of his career.

Steve Breaston is another fifth round gem uncovered by the Cardinals.  The Michigan receiver has established himself as the Cards #3 receiver and had a 1,000 yard season in just his second year in the league in 2008.

Buster Davis, taken in the third round, and Ben Patrick, the team’s 7th round selection, have had minimal success in the NFL.  Davis is not even playing this year after moving on to Indianapolis in 2008 while Patrick has been one of several tight ends the Cards have auditioned over the past few seasons.

Grade: B-.  Even though Brown is a solid RT they lose points for having to move him to that position, and, Breaston turned out to be a steal in the fifth round.  They ended up with two starters out of this draft which is pretty solid.  They lose points for only getting two productive players to-date out of this draft though.

2006 Draft

The jury is still out on top pick Matt Leinart, but, the growing consensus is that he is never going to be anything more than a journeyman backup.  At times he plays well, at times he does not.  He lost the starting gig due more to how Kurt Warner played when Leinart got hurt as opposed to how poorly Leinart may have played.  Until he gets the chance to win the job back we will not know what Leinart is going to do.

Second rounder Deuce Lutui became a starter half way through his rookie season and has been manning the right guard position in Arizona since then.

Third round pick Leonard Pope represents another washout at tight end for the Cardinals.

Fourth round selection Gabe Watson has been solid backup defensive tackle for Arizona over the past few years but has been nothing special.

Brandon Johnson, taken in the fifth round, has caught on as a backup linebacker for the Bengals the past two seasons.

Grade: C.  The only player of note to emerge from this class thus far is Lutui, the grade could go higher if Leinart ever becomes the Cardinals starting quarterback.

2005 Draft

This class ended up being a pretty poor one for the Cardinals with Antrel Rolle, taken 8th overall, being the only player still with the team.  Rolle’s career has been a bit of a disappointment.  He never developed into the shutdown corner one expects from a corner taken that high in the draft and he was eventually moved to safety prior to the 2008 season.  He does have four interception returns for touchdowns though.

Second round pick J. J Arrington never developed into the big play back they thought they were getting and was used almost exclusively as a passing down back and kick returner after his rookie season.

Eric Green, Darryl Blackstock, Elton Brown, Lance Mitchell, and LeRon McCoy never amounted to much and are no longer in football.

Grade: D+.  Rolle is still a good defensive back, and Arrington did have a role with the team, but, the rest of the class was full of guys who never amounted to anything.